Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-07

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The charts below show the average percentages in typical meals of three types of nutrients, all of which may be unhealthy if eaten too much.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Average percentages of sodium, saturated fats and added sugars in typical meals consumed in the USA

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The three pie graphs compare the proportions of the three types of nutrients – sodium, saturated fat, and added sugar – in a typical meals consumed in the USA, which can cause severe health problems, if taken uncalculated.

Overall, the dinner contributed as the largest meal by comprising the highest proportion of the sodium and saturated fats, while snacks accounted for the biggest share of added sugar. The breakfast remained the only meal with the accurate proportion of the nutrients.

The dinner accounted for the largest part of the nutrients, with sodium at 43% and saturated fats at 37%, while added sugar stood at 23%. The snacks containing added sugar around 42% stood at the highest proportion among other nutrients, whereas sodium at 14% and saturated fat at 21%.

The only meal that comprises the limited proportions of the three nutrients was breakfast, sodium at 14%, saturated fat at 16%, and added sugar at 16%. The lunch recorded sodium at 29%, saturated fat at 26%, and added sugar at 19%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You identify the main pattern accurately: dinner has the largest shares of sodium and saturated fat, while snacks lead for added sugar. The figures you report for these comparisons, as well as the breakfast and lunch values, match the charts. Your overview also gives the reader a useful summary before the details. However, the claim that breakfast has the “accurate proportion” is unclear and does not describe a meaningful chart feature; breakfast is not consistently the lowest for every nutrient, since its added-sugar share equals saturated fat at 16%. Replacing this with a precise comparison would make the overview more consistently informative. Overall, the response covers the task and supports its main points with relevant data, though one generalisation is imprecise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear four-paragraph structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs of supporting figures. The progression from the overall pattern to meal-specific data is easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “while,” and “whereas” help signal comparisons. This provides a coherent arrangement, but cohesion is not always smooth. The sentence beginning “The snacks containing added sugar around 42%” is awkwardly assembled, making the relationship between the sugar figure and the other snack values less clear. The final paragraph also lists breakfast and lunch figures without a strong transition explaining why these are grouped. More natural sentence links and clearer references would make the progression feel less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “proportions,” “accounted for,” “largest share,” and “stood at,” and the reader can understand the comparisons. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “contributed” and “recorded.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural: “in a typical meals,” “if taken uncalculated,” “the accurate proportion,” and “limited proportions” do not express the intended meanings clearly. “The dinner” and “the snacks” are also less natural here than simply “dinner” and “snacks.” The range is adequate for describing the data, but greater control of common collocations and precise terms would make the report more fluent and professional.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of sentence forms, including complex comparisons with “while” and “whereas,” and the main data statements are generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, however. The opening has an article and number mismatch in “in a typical meals,” and the overview sentence “The breakfast remained the only meal with the accurate proportion” has an unclear structure. In “The snacks containing added sugar around 42% stood at the highest proportion,” the clause construction is incomplete or poorly controlled. These issues do not usually prevent the reader from understanding the figures, but they reduce accuracy. Check articles and singular/plural agreement, and make sure each sentence has a clear subject and a complete verb structure.

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